Elfquest

How to read Elfquest in chronological order

This master list attempts to set all the Elfquest stories in chronological order. The complete storyline, from the arrival of the elves on Abode to the planet's space age, spans some 21,000 years. Headings are inserted to mark the most radical shifts in elfin history.

​If you have never read Elfquest, start by reading the first twenty Elfquest comics published between 1978-1984, unofficially called “The Grand Quest." It was written and drawn exclusively by the creators of Elfquest, Wendy and Richard Pini. The comics produced after that first series were written and drawn by many contributors, and jump around between various timelines and stories in the history of the elves. Though all were published by the Pinis, not all contain artwork or writing directly done by the Pinis, and many are back stories or 'what-if' tales and thus not always consistent. The series that is currently in publication, "The Final Quest," is tying all of the stories together into one cohesive whole.

All of the Elfquest comics except The Final Quest are available to read online for free at Elfquest.com. But for the best reading experience, read them in print! My favorite editions are the color 4-volume Archives, but those are quite expensive as they are no longer in print. My second favorite are the color 4-volume Starblaze editions printed in the 80s, which go for a much lower price and are beautiful as well.

Central Chronology

​​Even though I do provide a complete chronology below that contains all of the Elfquest comics, here is a "short list" of only those comics which are part of the central Elfquest storyline, in chronological order and linked to the online versions:

After issue 15, the plot splits in two, with Hidden Years carrying one thread and the Shards magazine the other. A third series, New Blood issues 13-35, runs parallel to these two plot lines. How New Blood interlocks with the other two series is not easy to tell, so most of this plotline is shown first.

New Blood 15 - Forevergreen Part 3

New Blood 16 - Forevergreen Part 4

New Blood 17 - Forevergreen Part 5

New Blood 18 - Forevergreen Part 6

New Blood 19 - Forevergreen Part 7

New Blood 20 - Forevergreen Part 8

New Blood 21 - Forevergreen Part 9 (According to this episode, which appeared in September 1994, the story at this point is a year behind the events of Shards 2 and Hidden Years 16, which were published at about the same time.)

Wavedancers (EQII 7; Wavedancers Special 1; Metamorphosis; EQ II 1,2,5,21,23,24,27,28,30,31) (This storyline originally was intended to take place a few human generations after the events of Shards and Hidden Years. However, for the Discovery series, Warp Graphics apparently has moved the timeline much farther back, to a time only a few years after the Shards War. The Discovery begins five years after that war.)